The Nairobi dialogue focused on community climate action and accountability for funding.
Religious and indigenous leaders urged communities to protect natural resources and demanded accountability for climate funding.
Faith climate action took centre stage at a Nairobi dialogue, where speakers urged religious and indigenous leaders to mobilise communities. They also called for government accountability to ensure climate financing reaches vulnerable populations.
Israeli Ambassador to Kenya Gideon Behar said the climate crisis required action beyond policymakers and scientists. He urged leaders to turn their commitments into practical work, including tree planting, neighbourhood clean-ups and water protection.
The Embassy of Israel in Kenya and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) organised the two-day interfaith dialogue. It brought together religious and indigenous leaders, government representatives, civil society organisations and environmental practitioners.
Faith climate action starts in communities
Behar encouraged partnerships across faiths to identify environmental projects that communities could begin immediately. He also expressed hope that the dialogue would become an annual platform with measurable results.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey Njuguna urged religious institutions to combine environmental stewardship with scrutiny of climate policy and financing. Njuguna serves on the Indigenous Council of Kenya board and leads within the Deliverance Church.
He outlined four council commitments: environmental teaching, sustainable institutional practices, congregation-led conservation and accountability for climate action. He also urged leaders to scrutinise every level of government and partners responsible for climate funding.
Churches, mosques, temples and other institutions could support rainwater harvesting, clean energy, waste management and climate-smart farming, Njuguna said. Their networks could also share early warnings and mobilise women and young people during droughts and floods.
Policy implementation and financing remain challenges
However, Kenya still faces challenges in implementing climate policy and mobilising resources, said Thomas Lerenten Lelekoiten. He is Deputy Director at the Climate Change Directorate in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
Lelekoiten cited the Climate Change Act of 2016 and the National Climate Change Action Plan as guiding instruments. However, he stressed that policies need practical implementation and government cannot address the crisis alone.
He also highlighted indigenous knowledge, including pastoralism that allows ecosystems in arid and semi-arid areas to recover.
On financing, he cited the UN Adaptation Gap Report’s estimate of developing countries’ annual adaptation needs. These could reach US$365 billion by 2035, against approximately US$26 billion currently available, he said.
Religious values can support resilience
KAS Kenya Country Director Mathias Kamp said faith and indigenous communities bring close local ties and disaster-response experience. The dialogue therefore sought to connect religious values and traditional knowledge with practical protection of land, water and livelihoods.
Similarly, Rev. Fr. Patrick Ndungu of the Archdiocese of Nairobi urged institutions to make conservation part of everyday practice. He highlighted water conservation, sustainable transport and responsible waste disposal, alongside changes in individual behaviour.
